Macron urges Israel to stop ‘killing women and babies’ in Gaza
New
Age Islam News Bureau
12 November 2023
•
Macron urges Israel to stop ‘killing women and babies’ in Gaza
• Israel-Palestine war: Woman taking shelter in UN
school killed by Israeli air strike
•
Earthquakes and Taliban Decrees: The Plight of Afghan Women and Children
•
Satisfaction level of Afghan women for freedom lowest in world: Survey
•
Pakistani Police Cracking Down On Migrants Are Arresting Afghan Women And
Children, Activists Claim
•
Housewife in Melaka found dead with stab wounds in bathroom
•
Mexico's ruling party again picks woman to run for mayor of capital
•
Girls from Maharashtra villages helping India chak de!
•
Blackburn woman offering support to Muslim LGBTQ+ community
•
Pakistani film ‘In Flames’ set to ignite interest at Red Sea Film Festival with
women-led narrative
•
Argentina’s ice hockey downs Iran in Women's Development Cup
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Macron
urges Israel to stop ‘killing women and babies’ in Gaza
11
November, 2023
Macron
has urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza [Getty]
-----------
French
President Emmanuel Macron has urged Israel to stop bombing Gaza, accusing the
country of killing babies, women and the elderly in an interview with the BBC
on Friday.
Macron
pushed for a cease-fire and urged other leaders to join his call, telling the
BBC there was "no justification" for Israel's ongoing bombing.
Tel
Aviv has been bombing the besieged Gaza since 7 October, killing over 11,000
Palestinians, including 4,506 children, 3,027 women, and 678 elderly people. At
least 27,400 Palestinians have been wounded by the attacks.
The
US has been pushing for temporary pauses that would allow for wider
distribution of badly needed aid to civilians in the besieged territory where
conditions are increasingly dire.
However,
Israel has so far only agreed to brief daily periods during which civilians are
able to flee the area of ground combat in northern Gaza and head south on foot
along the territory's main north-south artery.
Since
these evacuation windows were first announced a week ago, more than 150,000
civilians have fled the north, according to UN monitors. Tens of thousands more
remain in northern Gaza, many sheltering at hospitals and overcrowded UN
facilities.
Palestinian
civilians and rights advocates have pushed back against Israel's portrayal of
the southern evacuation zones as "relatively safe," noting that
Israeli bombardment has continued across Gaza, including airstrikes in the
south that Israel says target Hamas leaders, but that have also killed women
and children.
Secretary
of State Antony Blinken, speaking to reporters on Friday during a tour of Asia,
laid out what he said were fundamental principles for a post-war Gaza, some of
which seemed to run counter to Israel's narrow approach.
Blinken
said these principles include "no forcible displacement of Palestinians
from Gaza, no use of Gaza as a platform for launching terrorism or other attacks
against Israel, no diminution in the territory of Gaza, and a commitment to
Palestinian-led governance for Gaza and for the West Bank, and in a unified
way".
On
Saturday, Palestinians said Israeli troops were within view of Al Shifa
Hospital, Gaza's largest. Thousands of civilians had been sheltering in the Al
Shifa compound in recent weeks, but many fled Friday after several nearby
strikes in which one person was killed and several were wounded.
Abdallah
Nasser, who lives near Al Shifa, said by phone that the Israeli military was
advancing deep into the city from its southern and northern flanks.
Mohammed
al-Masri, one of thousands still sheltering at the hospital, said that from a
higher floor, he could see Israeli troops approaching from the west. "They
are here," he said. "They are visible."
"We
cannot evacuate ourselves and [leave] these people inside," a Doctors
Without Borders surgeon at Shifa, Mohammed Obeid, was quoted as saying by the
organisation.
The
organisation said other doctors reported that some staff had fled to save
themselves and their families, and urged all hospitals be protected.
More
than 11,078 Palestinians, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women, have been
killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
Gaza's
interior ministry said six people were killed early on Saturday in a strike on
the Nuseirat refugee camp that hit a house. The camp is located in the southern
evacuation zone.
Source:
Newarab.Com
https://www.newarab.com/news/gaza-macron-urges-israel-stop-killing-women-and-babies
-----
Israel-Palestine
war: Woman taking shelter in UN school killed by Israeli air strike
By
MahaHussaini
11
November 2023
Palestinian
women react after an Israeli strike near an Unrwa school in Khan Younis, in the
southern Gaza Strip, on 21 October 2023 (AFP)
--------------
Om
Ahmed Jendiya was in the toilet of the Tal al-Hawa School in Gaza on Wednesday,
8 November, when shrapnel from an Israeli missile penetrated her chest and
immediately killed her.
The
35-year-old Palestinian woman had taken refuge in the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (Unrwa) school to escape the Israeli bombardment of her
neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City.
She
and her four children left their home on 11 October, believing that a UN school
would be the "safest place in Gaza" during the ongoing Israeli
invasion that has killed at least 11,000 Palestinian civilians since
hostilities with Hamas began on 7 October.
"Women
and men usually stand in queues outside the toilet to use it. Om Ahmed had just
entered it after around ten days of not being able to take a shower. Once she
entered, insane Israeli bombing started," Kamel Ubaid, a displaced
31-year-old man, told Middle East Eye.
"We
were in the playground and started rushing to the classrooms to take shelter.
Shrapnel was falling on us like showers, and the bombing was intense and lasted
for several minutes non-stop," he added. "While we were running, a
young man was injured by shrapnel in the back, and we suddenly heard women
screaming near the toilets."
"A
large crowd of women were outside the hospital, and suddenly one woman got out
of the bathroom, struggling to carry [Jendiya]. The scene was horrible. I could
not describe it using any words. Both Om Ahmed and the woman carrying her were
covered in blood. Her wound was horrific and her flesh was out," Ubaid
continued.
In
the around 360-square kilometre-Gaza Strip, dozens of Unrwa schools are located
in densely populated neighbourhoods, surrounded by residential buildings and
healthcare facilities.
With
no phone signal available due to the blackout imposed on Gaza since the
beginning of Israel’s military onslaught, displaced people at the school could
not call an ambulance.
In
the first week of the attack that began on 7 October, Israeli fighter jets
bombed the headquarters of the two main telecommunication companies as well as
their infrastructure across Gaza.
But
on 27 October, Israel cut all communication networks across the blockaded
enclave, leaving the over 2.3 million residents in a complete blackout, unable
to communicate with each other or call civil defence services or ambulances.
Men
check the bodies of people killed in bombardment that hit a school housing
displaced Palestinians, as they lie on the ground in the yard of Al-Shifa
hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023
Bodies
of people killed during the Israeli bombardment of a school housing displaced
Palestinians lie on the ground in the yard of al-Shifa Hospital on 10 November
2023 (AFP)
Although
the networks were partially back around 36 hours later, the complete blackout
has been imposed again several times for multiple hours ever since.
"We
tried to call an ambulance several times. Although the Red Crescent
headquarters is only a few metres away from the school, we could not reach out
to them. So her brothers and cousins carried her to the al-Quds Hospital
[around 200 meters away]," Ubaid said.
Her
relatives could not go with them to continue the last procedures and attend her
burial as the bombing was still ongoing. The medics refused to take them for
fear that the ambulance would be hit by an air strike or an artillery shell, as
happened in other incidents, he continued.
"Her
children could not go with them to al-Quds Hospital. They left them here in the
school. Today after their mother was killed, everyone is trying to take care of
them. They are still very young, the oldest is around 11 years old only."
As
of Friday, at least 35 ambulances had been destroyed, 198 healthcare
professionals killed, and 135 hospitals and medical facilities targeted in
Israel’s bombardment of the strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of
Health in Gaza.
On
Friday alone, six hospitals across the coastal enclave were targeted by Israeli
air strikes, artillery shells, and snipers, including al-Quds Hospital, al-Nasr
Hospital for Children, the Indonesian Hospital, al-Rantissi Hospital, and
al-Shifa Hospital, which remains under siege as of Saturday morning.
Because
residents of Gaza remain at risk even in the two relatively safest places -
hospitals and Unrwa schools - many displaced people say they wish to return
home as "every place is bombed".
"If
my home was not severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable, I would certainly
return home because there is no need to stay here," Ahmed abuRiziq, who
takes refuge at the Tal al-Hawa school, told MEE.
"The
situation is dire. No aid or food is provided, we struggle to fill in a few
bottles of water from the nearby [al-Quds] hospital every day, and most
importantly, we can be targeted at any moment even when we are inside the
classrooms."
"You
tell me UN [facilities] are supposed to be safe? Try to spend one night here
while they are bombing the neighbourhood and let me know how safe you
feel."
Source:
Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-woman-unrwa-school-killed-bathroom-israeli-air-strike
-----
Earthquakes
and Taliban Decrees: The Plight of Afghan Women and Children
MirwaisRamozi
November
11, 2023
Following
the Taliban's takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan confronts compounded
challenges from both seismic political shifts and catastrophic natural events.
Earthquakes in Khost and Herat provinces have resulted in thousands of casualties,
with the majority being women and children, highlighting structural
vulnerabilities of Afghan homes made from sun-dried bricks. Concurrently, the
Taliban's restriction on women's participation in non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) has strained essential health and aid services. This
situation is exacerbated by international decisions to reduce aid allocations.
This convergence of crises has disproportionately affected women and children,
with potential surges in malnutrition, diseases, and child marriages. This
scenario underscores the urgent need for the global community to prioritize
humanitarian considerations over political disagreements, ensuring aid reaches
the vulnerable and NGOs can operate amidst ongoing challenges.
Since
the Taliban's swift takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has been beset not
only by profound political shifts but also by devastating natural calamities,
exacerbating an already dire situation. In June of the previous year, a
magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the eastern province of Khost, tragically
killing over 1,000 people [1]. More recently, the western province of Herat has
experienced a series of magnitude 6 earthquakes since October 7, 2023 [2]. The
Taliban's interim administration acknowledges 2,445 fatalities, but as many
remain unaccounted for, the true death toll may yet rise [2]. United Nations
International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) stressed that over 90% of
these victims were also women and children, because most men were away at work
when the initial quake struck, leaving women and children at home [2]. Indeed,
it has been noted that a significant proportion of Afghan dwellings are
constructed from sun-dried bricks, similar to those implicated in the extensive
damage during the Nepal earthquake in 2015, which likely contributed to the
magnitude of the devastation experienced [1].
These
natural disasters compound the challenges arising from the Taliban's decree
prohibiting women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) [3]. So
far, given the Afghan government's limited capacity and resources, NGOs have
been instrumental in tackling the country's healthcare challenges. Women,
notably, have been central to this effort, participating in services like
maternal and child healthcare, community-based activities, nutrition, and
psychological support. Therefore, one of the pressing issues is the high infant
and maternal mortality rates compounded by the Taliban's recent decree
prohibiting women from working in NGOs [4].
Moreover,
with the Taliban's decree excluding women from these NGOs, international
funders and countries have limited their cooperation, further straining an
already delicate situation. The situation was further aggravated when the UK
government allocated only £1m out of the promised £7m to Save the Children, and
the German NGO Welthungerhilfe suspended its work. Notably, as a result of the
decree, 83% of NGOs had to suspend some or all of their operations by January
12 [5].
The
combined effects of political decisions and natural disasters are particularly
harsh on already marginalized women and children. Not only is there a potential
link to the already severe issue of child malnutrition and an increase in
marriages, but it may also impede the progress of women in society, exacerbate
mental health problems, and deepen the disconnect from international societal
trends [5].
In
conclusion, the intertwining of political edicts from the Taliban and
devastating natural disasters have created a critical juncture for Afghanistan.
Sanctions and aid cuts, though meant to penalize the Taliban, inadvertently
have a harsh impact on Afghan women and children. This situation serves as a
poignant call to the international community, urging them not to let political
or natural crises imperil the lives of the most vulnerable. It is imperative to
separate humanitarian aid from political disputes, negotiate feasible solutions
with the Taliban, and continue the essential work of NGOs, especially in light
of the recurring natural disasters.
Source:
Cureus.Com
-----
Satisfaction
level of Afghan women for freedom lowest in world: Survey
Nov
12 2023
In
a recent survey, the Gallup Institute said that the satisfaction level of
Afghan women for their freedom and social life in Afghanistan is at the bottom
in comparison to other countries, TOLO News reported.
As
per the Gallup survey, 17 per cent of women in Afghanistan said that they are
treated with respect. The survey also stated that women in Afghanistan live in
suffering.
"After
talking about consent and dealing with the rights of women who have been
deprived of education for more than two years, there are prohibitive commands
in the field that caused us not to have our best cadres with us in this
period," said Suraya Paikan, a women's rights activist.
"The
suffering is that the people of Afghanistan, women and men, lived under terror
and crime for twenty years; their children and families were killed in front of
their eyes. It was a bad situation for Afghans; our women suffered a lot, but
now the situation has changed a lot; our women have their dignity and
modesty," Zabihullah Mujahid said, as per TOLO News.
In
a part of the Gallup Institute's report, concern has been expressed about the
deportation of 1,700,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan and that the lives of
the deported women and girls are once again under pressure.
Source:
Business-Standard.Com
-----
Pakistani
police cracking down on migrants are arresting Afghan women and children,
activists claim
Nov
12, 2023
KARACHI:
Pakistani police are arresting Afghan women and children in southern Sindh
province as part of a government crackdown on migrants, activists said
Saturday.
More
than 250,000 Afghans have left Pakistan in recent weeks as the government
rounded up, arrested and kicked out foreign nationals without papers. It set an
Oct. 31 deadline for migrants without legal status to leave the country
voluntarily.
The
expulsions mostly affect Afghans, who make up the majority of foreigners living
in Pakistan. Authorities maintain they are targeting all who are in the country
illegally.
Human
rights lawyer MonizaKakar said police in Sindh launch midnight raids on
people's homes and detain Afghan families, including women and children.
Last
December, Afghan women and children were among 1,200 people jailed in Karachi
for entering the city without valid travel documents. The arrests brought
criticism from around Afghanistan after images of locked-up children were
circulated online.
In
the latest crackdown, even Afghans with documentation face the constant threat
of detention, leading many to confine themselves to their homes for fear of
deportation, Kakar said. "Some families I know are struggling without
food, forced to stay indoors as police officials continue arresting them,
regardless of their immigration status."
She
highlighted the plight of refugee children born in Pakistan without proof of
identity, even when their parents have papers. Minors are being separated from
their families, she told The Associated Press.
A
Pakistani child who speaks Pashto, one of Afghanistan's official languages, was
detained and deported because his parents were unable to register him in the
national database, according to Kakar.
The
head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hina Jilani, said Pakistan
lacks a comprehensive mechanism to handle refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants
without papers, despite hosting Afghans for 40 years.
On
Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for an attack that killed three police
officers and injured another three in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan
accuses the Taliban of harboring militants from groups like the TTP -
allegations that the Taliban deny - and said Afghans without permanent legal
status are responsible for some of the attacks.
Jilani
highlighted the humanitarian aspect of dealing with Pakistan's Afghan
communities, saying they shouldn't be solely viewed through a security lens.
The
Sindh official responsible for detention and deportation centers in the
province, Junaid Iqbal Khan, admitted there were "initial incidents"
of mistaken identity, with documented refugees and even Pakistani nationals
being taken to transit points or detention centers. But now only foreigners
without proper registration or documentation are sent for deportation, Khan
said.
Around
2,000 detainees have been taken to a central transit point in the past 10 days,
with several buses heading to the Afghan border daily through southwest
Baluchistan province.
Pakistan
has long hosted millions of Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989
Soviet occupation. More than half a million fled Afghanistan after the Taliban
takeover.
Source:
Times Of India
-----
Housewife
in Melaka found dead with stab wounds in bathroom
12
Nov 2023
MELAKA,
Nov 12 — A housewife was found dead with stab wounds on the chest in the
bathroom of her house in Taman Vista Kirana, Bukit Katil, here yesterday
evening.
Melaka
Tengah district police chief ACP Christopher Patit said the woman, Tan See Jie,
34, was discovered by her aunt, Lim GeokLeng, 65, lying in a pool of blood in
the bathroom at around 3.30pm.
“Based
on the initial investigation, the victim was found with three stab wounds on
the left chest. A knife was also found embedded in the victim’s left chest.
“At
the time of the incident, the victim was home with her aunt and seven-year-old
son, as her husband was away working,” he said in a statement today.
Upon
checking the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage at the scene,
Christopher said there was no movement in and out of the house through the
front and back doors. A thorough examination of the surrounding area and inside
the house also found no signs of a ransack.
“There
was no sign of criminal element in the incident and the body has been sent to
the Forensic Unit of the Melaka Hospital for a post-mortem today to determine
the cause of death,” he added.
Source:
Malay Mail
-----
Mexico's
ruling party again picks woman to run for mayor of capital
Nov
11, 2023
MEXICO
CITY: Mexico's ruling party on Saturday picked veteran politician Clara Brugada
to be its candidate for Mexico City mayor, placing her in a strong position to
win the election next June.
Brugada
could become the second woman in a row to be elected as mayor of the Mexican
capital if her campaign for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's leftist
National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) is successful.
"Thank
you to everyone who gave us their trust," Brugada wrote on social media
platform X, formerly known as Twitter, early on Saturday. "Today we came
out strong and united to win the heart of our great capital."
To
pursue the post, two-time congresswoman Brugada stood down as mayor of
Iztapalapa, a sprawling borough in the southeast of the capital of over 1.8
million people where she built up a respected track record during three stints
in charge.
New
gender parity rules on political representation in Mexico secured the
nomination for the 60-year-old Brugada, even though the capital's former chief
of police Omar Garcia Harfuch comfortably defeated her in polling commissioned
by the party.
Nine
heads of regional government will be elected next June, including the mayor's
job, and the parity rules meant that parties needed to nominate at least five
women for the posts.
Mexico
City has for decades been a bastion of the left, but MORENA suffered a major
setback in midterm elections in 2021, losing more than half the city's boroughs
to the opposition.
Lopez
Obrador in 2005 launched the first of three presidential bids from the mayor's
office. His then-environment chief Claudia Sheinbaum, who became mayor in 2018,
won the party's presidential nomination in September for the 2024 election.
Source:
Times Of India
-----
Girls
from Maharashtra villages helping India chak de!
Nov
12, 2023
MUMBAI:
Not long after setting down her hockey stick in Ranchi last Sunday,
Satara-based defender Vaishnavi Phalke picked up an ice-cream stick. Having
sworn off sweets for rigorous training, the 20-year-old allowed herself the
frozen butterscotch delight past midnight after India's flawless 4-0 victory
against Japan in the final of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy.
Inspired
by the 2007 Shah Rukh-starrer 'Chak De! India', Phalke is the youngest of the
crop of daughters of farmers, mechanics and daily wagers from the state powering
the national women's hockey team. A majority of these new queens of synthetic
grass -AkshataDhekale, RutujaPisal, Kajal Atpadkar, Pooja Shendge, Swati
Jadhav, Bhagyashree Shinde and Pragya Bhonsle - grew up among the dried natural
grass in drought-prone Phaltan taluka in Satara.
Once
dominated by the urban elite from Pune, women's hockey, which has spawned eight
women Olympians in the state, including former skipper Eliza Nelson whose
eight-year career is bookended by two golds, now sees a bevy of rustic players
not only mastering the craft of passing, regaining and covering up under the
gaze of European coaches such as former Dutch player Johanna (Janneke) Schopman
but also speaking to the media in measured English.
Among
them is 20-year-old Vaishnavi Phalke, who helped the team make up for the Asian
Games bronze with a shiny gold at the biennial six-nation Women's Asian
Champions Trophy that made her father VitthalPhalke - a former wrestler -
"very happy".
Even
as the medal now awaits a showcase and the bank account awaits the Rs 3 lakh
cash prize, Vaishnavi, who made a star debut in the senior side with three
goals at Cape Town at the start of the year, is back to dodging sugar in Asu, a
large village near the sugar-factory-boasting Phaltan Taluka. "My mother
is tired of me," says the calm midfielder, who has been refusing to eat
even homemade sweets for five Diwalis now.
It's
no coincidence that a majority of the girls in blue skirt grew up Phaltan
taluka. "Unkenaseebmeinshayad main tha (Perhaps, meeting me was part of
their destiny)," says 47-year-old Vikas Bhujbal, a former volleyball
player and local primary school sports teacher, credited with the making of
Olympian archer Pravin Jadhav, who decided to take the girls under his wing in
2009.
Keen
to watch the kids hailing from nearby villages such as Sarde and Kokli prosper
through the equaliser called sports, Bhujbal introduced many to
KridaPrabodhini, a state-run sports programme meant to harness the talent of
eight to 14-year-olds from Maharashtra's impoverished pockets.
Those
who passed the cluster of tests - including sprinting and throwing a
physiotherapy ball - were later picked for training at various
KridaPrabodhinicentres in the state, most prominently at Pune's Shiv
Chhatrapati Sports Complex, where Bhujbal would often arrive later on his
motorbike - a father figure bearing talcum powder, hair oil and other
essentials from homes almost three hours away.
Phalke
was then a mere eight-year-old audience member who had watched her father lock
arms with other glistening men in Kesari Kusti, a homespun wrestling contest.
Having spent the first few months running, swimming and crying, she chose
hockey as her discipline of choice. "We played against the boys,"
says Phalke, adding that living up to their speed and strength helped her
improve her game.
In
2012, Phaltan would quietly judge AkshataDhekale as the pre-teen sprinted
through school grounds in shorts for the first time. "My own classmates
looked at me as if I was odd," says the defender. "I could sense them
wondering: 'How is she running in shorts?'"
Today,
the grass is greener. Like RutujaPisal, a labourer's daughter who plays for
Union Bank of India, Dhekale - who made her senior international debut last
year in the FIH Hockey Pro League mini-series against Germany - has a job. She
plays for the Indian Oil Corporation, filling at age 22 the local void she had
felt as a child. "We had no women role models from our region in
hockey," says Dhekale.
While
Arjuna and Padma Shri veteran Eliza Nelson believes more AstroTurf stadiums
would help more women take up the game, Dhekale feels better job prospects
would help kill the self-doubt that plagues the security-craving 22 year olds
in the team.
Source:
Times Of India
-----
Blackburn
woman offering support to Muslim LGBTQ+ community
By
Alexandria Slater
12-11-2023
Natasha
Shah, 40, founded Purple Souls in November last year after a relative came out
as transgender but faced challenges.
Recognising
the lack of support for many LGBTQ+ individuals within the Muslim community,
the charity aims to break the cycle of discrimination through support groups
and building connections with other allies.
Natasha
said: “There are people out there that need us but are obviously scared to come
out, and there isn’t that safety for people in both communities.
"Hate
breeds from hate and as a child you just follow your parent’s opinions so we
need to break that cycle by raising awareness and educating and just being
supportive.”
Natasha
runs vacation therapy days which are days trips where groups can learn about
each other, gain friendships and build strong connections and also runs a drop
in session at Blackburn Rovers community hub every Wednesday.
Since
launching, Purple Souls has helped many individuals who have been ousted by
their families navigate systems like immigration apps, find housing, create
CVs, and secure job interviews.
Describing
the challenges running the charity causes, Natasha said: “I get quite a lot of
hate emails from people who think what I’m doing is evil.
“I
don’t get any funding at the moment and we’re just run on volunteers but if we
don’t do this, no one will so it’s important to keep raising awareness and not
let hate stop you.”
Source:
Lancashiretelegraph.Co.Uk
-----
Pakistani
film ‘In Flames’ set to ignite interest at Red Sea Film Festival with women-led
narrative
BURAQ
SHABBIR
November
12, 2023
KARACHI:
As Pakistani feature film “In Flames” heads to the Red Sea International Film
Festival (RSIFF) later this month, its lead actresses said the selection of a
women-oriented story for the high-profile event in Saudi Arabia itself reflected
progress and was likely to resonate with women in the region.
Earlier
this year in May, “In Flames” became the second Pakistani film in 43 years to
make it to Directors’ Fortnight, an event that runs parallel to the prestigious
Cannes Film Festival. Last month, the film was independently released at the
Atrium Cinemas in Pakistan’s southern Karachi city for a 12-day run which was
later extended until November 9.
“In
Flames” is one of the two feature films from Pakistan that will be screened at
the RSIFF scheduled to take place from November 30 till Dec 9 in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia.
“The
way the Middle East is positioning itself in terms of women’s rights, we
appreciate it,” Bakhtawar Mazhar, who plays the mother, Fariha, in the film,
told Arab News in an exclusive conversation earlier this month.
“More
than other festivals, this film is making its place at Red Sea,” she continued.
“A women-oriented film. That’s a statement. I think Red Sea is also, by
selecting these films, trying to say something here.”
Mazhar
described the development as significant not just for the film but also for
Pakistan. She said the festival in Saudi Arabia was relatively new compared to
similar global film industry events, though it had managed to bring together
big stars and films with meaningful content in a brief period of three years.
She
categorized “In Flames” as a psychological thriller that follows the struggle
of a mother and her daughter after the loss of the patriarch of the family.
Written and directed by award-winning Canadian-Pakistani filmmaker Zarrar Kahn,
the film has been produced by Anam Abbas.
Newcomer
Ramesha Nawal, who auditioned for her acting debut with “In Flames,” played the
role of Fariha’s daughter, Mariam, in the film. She found the character quite
relatable being the eldest daughter in her family.
“Even
though this film was shot in Karachi, women around the world were crying [after
watching the film] and they were like, we know the struggle this character went
through, we know the struggle of Fariha and Mariam,” Nawal told Arab News.
She
said she was truly excited that the film was going to the Red Sea festival,
adding the Saudi film industry was also making rapid progress which offered a
tremendous opportunity to the Pakistani cinema to be collaborating with them.
“In
Flames” is also Pakistan’s official submission under the Foreign Language Film
category for the 96th Academy Awards next year. In addition to the Cannes
Directors’ Fortnight, the film has made it to multiple international film
festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF),
International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF) and Vancouver International
Film Festival (VIFF) within the last few months.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2407281/lifestyle
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Argentina’s
ice hockey downs Iran in Women's Development Cup
Nov
12, 2023
In
the third match late on Saturday, the Iranian sportswomen accepted defeat
against Argentina 2-1 and missed the finals.
Previously
in the opening match, the Iranian women's ice hockey team defeated Ireland 6-2,
but in their second match, they lost to Colombia 1-0.
Iran
will face Ireland once again late on Sunday to try its chance to stand in third
place in the tournament.
The
Women's Development Cup is back for a second year, and four teams including
Argentina, Colombia, Iran, and Ireland compete for the Championship title.
Established
as an opportunity to give developing women's programs a top-level competitive
experience, the Women's Development Cup is an important step for international
teams toward their goal of competing at official IIHF tournaments.
The
2024 Women's Development Cup is underway in KrynicaZdrój, Poland from November
6-12.
Source:
En.mehrnews
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/208239/Argentina-s-ice-hockey-downs-Iran-in-Women-s-Development-Cup
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